Anyone who has worked with me knows the importance I place on self-care.The reason for the emphasis is that I know first-hand what stress can do – I’ve got the malfunctioning adrenal glands to prove it. Although stress happens to just about everyone, the way we nurture ourselves on multiple levels – physically, mentally, emotionally, [...]

Have you taken the time to consider what your hourly rate would be for the time you’re dedicating to your birth doula clients? In a recent Facebook Group post for students of Birth Arts International, founder Demetria Clark offered the following example:

If you charge $400 per birth, this is a simple breakdown to consider:

Time with parents – 5 hours (prenatals and phone calls)
Time at birth – 10 hours (sometimes much longer, sometimes much shorter, but 10 is a midline average).

New subscribers to the Inspired Birth Pro updates receive an email requesting their burning business questions. I’ve compiled the list of questions over the years, and I’ve started posting them on Facebook, because honestly, I don’t have all the answers! I also learn from other birth pros, so I really appreciate it when fans take the time to share their wisdom.

If you have not liked the IBP Facebook page yet (and you should!), I’m going to start compiling the questions and responses into a blog post, along with the link to the question, in case you want to add to the conversation.

In the previous article, we went over how to set up, target and create your ads – in this last part of the series, we’ll go over the basic metrics and stats and cover the concepts of splitting out groups based on your campaign’s metrics to get the best people for your Page at the lowest price.

In terms of longterm advertising costs, generally a very local ad campaign for something as specific as a birthing professional isn’t going to get millions of impressions, so CPM is my eventual preferred method as it ends up being the cheapest once you figure out exactly what works for you.

In the first part of this series, we learned how to create basic variations of ads and explored some of the concepts behind creating an attractive, relevant ad for your birth business. In this article, we’ll delve into how to create the ad in Facebook’s system and target it specifically based on the kind of person you want to attract.

Setting Up Your First Ad

For illustrative purposes, I’ll be assuming you’re advertising your own Facebook Page while walking through this – though most of the tips here work just as well for your external site. I highly recommend investing your resources in building a Page, though – it’s an unobtrusive way to get information out to people who may be passively interested in your services, and the more people are aware of you, the more business you’ll get!

Getting the word out locally about your services is a vital component for your business and there are lots of ways you can put your name out there. I’ll be focusing on one of the methods that has a lot of long term potential for birth professionals – Facebook Ads.

Now, maybe you have a small budget, or maybe you think Facebook is too big of a place to advertise your birth business.

I literally spend no more than $5 a day and get my message seen at least 5000 times on a slow day, and this leads to highly relevant new fans on our Facebook Page daily!

At a Twitter DoulaParty about a week ago, I heard about some informative YouTube videos for doulas and childbirth educators recorded by Janice Banther. There are 13 videos so far on Janice’s YouTube channel, ranging in length from 2-11 minutes in length. Learn some tricks to getting doctors to sign off on your evaluations, how to schedule doula clients, and how to help clients during birth in a variety of situations.

At a typical fair, each business has a designated space. Vendors are usually are provided a table, a chair or two, and maybe an electrical outlet. The organizers may also put up a small sign with the business name at the back of the booth.

Beyond what is provided, it is up to you to make your booth a place that people want to come and visit. One way to get ideas is to go to some fairs and see what attracts you. You may notice that many exhibitors have their table at the front of the booth, right up to the aisle where people are walking. The exhibitor may have some items displayed on the table, perhaps some brochures, and they’re sitting at the table, available to talk to the people passing by. Most of the time, what happens? People keep walking. Especially if it is crowded.

Here are some ways to cozy up your space:

On a forum I’m a part of, there was recently a discussion of hospitals that require birth doulas to sign consent forms in order to practice there. These forms typically list what a doula can or cannot do in that particular hospital.

It’s a good idea for doula clients to be aware of their doctor’s and hospital’s policies regarding access to and acceptance of labor support. One way to address this is to include specific wording on the doula contract that raises awareness and voices the expectation that the client needs to understand how supportive their caregivers will be of their doula.

All new subscribers to the Inspired Birth Pro updates receive an email asking what their burning questions are that can be addressed in future blog posts. The most common questions I receive are:

* How do I attract more clients/students?
* How can I be more organized (with home/business/finances/paperwork/office)?
* Where do I even begin with my new business?
* How can I have more balance in my life?